Paul Burstow launches £1.39m fund to help more carers

7th February 2011

Thousands of new or ‘hidden’ carers in England will be offered a helping hand from a new Government fund, Care Services Minister Paul Burstow announced today.

The Government is investing £1.39 million to support 79 local projects around the country to help identify and support carers, particularly those who have taken on the role for the first time and those who may not realise they are a carer.

Caring for someone can be incredibly rewarding but the six million carers in the UK face huge pressures on their own lives. Children in particular may not realise that the support they are providing to family members puts them into a caring role.

Paul Burstow said:

"I want every carer to get the support and help they need. But we can only help them if we know who they are. We’re investing £1.39 million in projects that will help carers to identify themselves so we can give them a helping hand.

"Children and teenagers are often hidden carers - they may not realise they can get help. With the proper help and support we can help ensure their school work doesn’t suffer so they get the same opportunities as other children."

The 79 projects will reach out to carers through hospitals, GP surgeries, the workplace, supermarkets, places of worship and other community settings.

By helping people identify themselves as carers, we can provide them with key information and practical advice about how to care for people with specific conditions and support them to live a life of their own. They can also be pointed towards expert sources of information, advocacy and support on caring including advice on flexible working, replacement care, housing adaptations and practical help with independent living.

Examples of the kind of projects in which we are investing include:

a team in Basingstoke which will go into five secondary schools and two colleges to help young carers to identify themselves, provide support groups for them and support them when they change schools or colleges;

a project in Telford that will help people identify themselves as a carer; and

a project in Derby Headway will identify people who have been unexpectedly thrown into a caring role, for example, through a loved one being seriously injured, and help them understand what has happened to their relative and cope as a carer.